JUDGE PASCUAL F. FOJAS, JR., Municipal Trial Court, Indang Cavite, complainant, vs. GALICANO M. ROLLAN, Clerk of
Court, Municipal Trial Court in Cities, Tagaytay City (then with MCTC, Indang Cavite), respondent.
FACTS:
This is an administrative
complaint filed by Judge Pascual F. Fojas, Jr., presiding Judge
of the Municipal Circuit Trial Court of Indang Mendez Nuñez, Indang Cavite,
against Galicano M.Rollan, former clerk of court of said MCTC, who is
now with the Municipal Trial Court in Cities, Tagaytay City.
This complaint stemmed from an
audit examination conducted by the Commission on Audit on the cash
accountabilities of respondent Galicano M. Rollan, who was
transferring to the MTCC, Tagaytay City from his post in the
MCTC, Indang Cavite effective April 1999. The most telling
pieces of evidence pointing to respondent's culpability for the loss of receipt
no. 2130901 are the two affidavits he executed which contained conflicting
statements as regards the missing receipt. In the first affidavit,
he denied having used said receipt. He even reported the loss to the
police and had it recorded in the police blotter. He submitted the
affidavit to Judge Fojas, together with a copy of the report appearing in
the police blotter. However, in his second affidavit , respondent
made a complete turnaround and expressly admitted that he used the missing
receipt, although he said it bore serial no. 2130401. The second affidavit was
executed as an afterthought, during the period when the duplicate and
triplicate copies of the missing receipt were being examined by the NBI. Respondent
obviously feared being caught lying in case the NBI found out that the trace
handwriting on the duplicate and triplicate copies were his.
ISSUE: Whether or not respondent
committed an act of gross negligence and dishonesty that merits administrative
sanction
HELD: YES.
Given the flip-flopping
affidavits of the respondent, it is difficult to accept his self-serving
defense in his answer that he did not use the missing receipt in any
transaction, or for personal gain. His cavalier attitude in changing sworn
statements indeed does not speak well of his candor and honesty.
Whether respondent misused the
original copy of receipt no. 2130901 for a purpose other than what it was
officially for, or lost said original by sheer negligence, would not exculpate
him from liability. Further, it is immaterial whether or not he used
it for his personal gain. He committed an act of gross negligence
and dishonesty that merits administrative sanction, as found by the Court
Administrator.
The OCA recommends that
respondent be fined in the amount of P10,000, for such negligence and
dishonesty. This penalty, however, is below that provided in
pertinent Civil Service rules, Under Section 22, Rule XIV of the Omnibus Rules
of Civil Service, dishonesty is a grave offense punishable with dismissal even
in the in the first offense. This penalty is reiterated in Civil
Service Memorandum Circular No. 30, series of 1989,and
again in Civil Service Memorandum Circular No. 19, series of 1999. The
omnibus rules, in Rule XIV, Section 9, and the aforecited circulars
likewise state that the penalty of dismissal from the service shall carry with
it cancellation of civil service eligibility, forfeiture of leave credits and retirement
benefits, and disqualification from any employment in the government service.
WHEREFORE, respondent GALICANO M.
ROLLAN, formerly clerk of court of MCTC of Indang-Mendez Nuñez, Indang, Cavite,
and now clerk of Court in Cities, Tagaytay City, is found GUILTY of
dishonesty and hereby ordered DISMISSED from the service, with forfeiture of
all retirement benefits except leave credits, and with prejudice to
reemployment in any branch of the government, including government-owned and
controlled corporations.
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